After the strongest start to a calendar year in over a decade, U.S. stocks are largely overbought. What's more, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) -- which moves in step with the broader S&P 500 Index (SPX) -- is sending up a technical signal that flashed just once in 2017, according to data from Schaeffer's Quantitative Analyst Chris Prybal. Below, we take a look at these rare SPY signals, and what...Read More

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) saw its price target raised to $1,400 from $1,200 at Piper Jaffray overnight -- a 12.2% premium to last night's close at $1,246.87. The brokerage firm weighed overall U.S. holiday retail spending versus its expectations for Amazon domestic holiday gross merchandise value, and concluded that Amazon "is arguably still in the early innings of its share-gain potential."...Read More

U.S. stock futures are signaling a positive start, after all three major market indexes nabbed record highs on Monday. With little in the way of economic data for traders to digest, Wall Street is eyeing a rally in Japan and the latest corporate news. Retail stocks will likely remain in focus, with Target (TGT) the latest retailer to unveil its holiday sales numbers. The tech sector will also be f...Read More

After touching a record high in intraday trading,the Dow ended the day just below breakeven, snapping a four-session win streak. However, the S&Pand Nasdaq both finished at record closing highs, and have yet to end a session in 2018 in the red. A rally in several tech and retail stocks helped push the indexes higher, though bank stocks pulled back ahead of the start of fourth-quarter earnings seas...Read More

Payment services stock The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) is rallying today, thanks to an upgrade to "neutral" from "negative" at Susquehanna, along with a price-target hike to $21 from $17. This positive analyst attention is based on reports that WU could be partnering with cryptocurrency concern Ripple Labs to implement blockchain technology into its portfolio. WU shares are up 4% at $21.42 i...Read More

Universal Display Corporation (NASDAQ:OLED) had a huge year in 2017 and that momentum is carrying over to the new year, with the shares adding 8.7% today to trade at $194.90, earlier tapping a record high of $196.90. This move comes after Susquehanna earlier lifted its price target to $215 from $195. OLED stock could also be feeling tailwinds fromCES, where a number of new products have featured O...Read More

Cirrus Logic, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRUS) stock was downgraded this morning by KeyBanc to "sector weight" from "overweight." The firm cited Apple (AAPL) as the reason for the downgrade, due to fears that the iPhone X sales may be "worse than expected." The news has CRUS stock down 0.5% today at $53.60. CRUS shares have lost 16% during the past six months, and fell to an annual low of $48.61 on Dec 6. A mi...Read More

It's another record-setting day on Wall Street, with the Dow, S&P 500 Index (SPX), and Nasdaq Composite (IXIC) fresh off all-time peaks. While the major market indexes are trading in a tight range, however, several individual stocks are making big moves, including electric car maker Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA), Snapchat parent Snap Inc (NYSE:SNAP), and gene-editing name Intellia Therapeutics Inc (NASD...Read More

GoPro Inc (NASDAQ:GPRO) stock fell to a record low of $5.04 today, after the firm cutits fourth-quarter sales forecast, announced plans to cut its workforce, and said it will exit the drone business. In addition, the firm slashed the price of its Hero6 cameras, and announced the departure of two high-level executives. However, GPRO stock is off its session lows, at last check, amid reports the fir...Read More

Weight Watchers International, Inc. (NYSE:WTW) stock is among the best of the S&P 500 Index (SPX) today, after Oprah Winfrey -- a major WTW stakeholder -- fueled speculation about a serious presidential bid in 2020. Against this backdrop, WTW shares were last seen 13.3% higher at $53.14, on pace for their best day since an early November post-earnings bull gap. What's more, Weight Watchers options...Read More

U.S. stocks enjoyed their best start to a calendar year in over a decade last week, as traders enjoyed a belated Santa Claus rally. But what could that mean for the rest of the year? Below, we break down the stats for the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI), S&P 500 Index (SPX), and Nasdaq Composite (IXIC), and what huge gains in Week 1 have meant historically.Dow's Best Start to the Year Since 200...Read More

GrubHub Inc (NYSE:GRUB) stock has received a flurry of analyst attention today. While Wedbush downgraded the online restaurant delivery concern to "neutral" from "outperform,"the brokerage firm also upped its price target by $5 to $70. Two other firms chimed in with price-target hikes as well, including Jefferies (to $73) and Wells Fargo (to $68). It appears the hikeswere not enough to offset the...Read More

U.S. stocks are trading in a tight range today, as the market continues to absorb last week's huge gains. While the Nasdaq Composite (IXIC) has managed to push higher, both the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) and S&P 500 Index (SPX) are holding just below breakeven -- potentially due to a round of profit-taking -- though all three indexes tagged record highs earlier. There's little to digest on...Read More

Gold prices closed higher for an 11th straight session on Friday -- the longest daily win streak on record. And while February gold futures are trading down 0.2% today at $1,319.80 an ounce, they are still holding near September highs. This price action has been mirrored in the SPDR Gold Trust ETF (GLD), though bullish options traders have been relatively absent amid the recent boon. After bottomi...Read More

Retailers have been releasing holiday sales data over the past week. While recent results from the likes of Macy's (NYSE:M) and L Brands (NYSE:LB) sent the retail stocks tumbling, Kohl's Corporation (NYSE:KSS) and Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ:LULU) are trading higher after the department store chain and yoga apparel maker both reported upbeat numbers for the November-December period. Here's a...Read More

Shares of chemical company Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) had a huge year in 2017, rising nearly 49%. Of course, this outperformance was nothing new for shareholders, who watched ALB stock surge 53.7% back in 2016. This year is shaping up to be no different, with the equity jumping almost 3% on the first trading day of 2018, and more analysts are starting to take notice.Just this morning, Citigr...Read More

NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) stock turned in its best week since July last week, capitalizing on Intel's (INTC) controversial chip issues. Then, at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) this weekend, NVIDIA announced it ispartnering with Uber, Volkswagen, and Baidu, to provide graphics chips for artificial intelligence (AI) in driverless cars. The big news has NVDA stock up another 2.7% to trade...Read More

After posting their strongest first week in years, U.S. stocks are set to open slightly lower this morning. The Fed will be in focus amid a relatively light economic and earnings docket, with Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren, Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic, and San Francisco Fed President John Williams all slated to speak. Traders will be looking for any insight on the potential timeline...Read More

"From a seasonality perspective, there is hope for the bulls, with New Year's week having a historically bullish seasonality... [but] with [the Santa Claus rally] yet to arrive, the Fed might be labeled as the Grinch that is stealing Santa's thunder... "[T]he levels that are a round 20% above the SPX and SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY - 266.86) 2016 closes -- 2,686.60 and $268.23 - have been areas of...Read More

LEAPS, or Long-term Equity AnticiPation Securities, are options with expiration dates set as far as three years into the future. They possess all the same characteristics as standard options, just with a much longer shelf life. Below, we will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of LEAPS vs. short-term options, compare buying LEAPS calls totraditional stock ownership, and look at ways to hedge...Read More